


Their Lives In This World

by SouthyJr



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Character Study, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I think?, Introspection, My First Fanfic, no beta we die like Glenn, not all will be mature level, rated m for theme, wow this got dark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:55:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22743625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SouthyJr/pseuds/SouthyJr
Summary: They all live in the same world. Some even share the same experiences. But deep inside, we all see differently, whether we realise it or not.This is how the students of Garreg Mach Monastery all see the world around them, and their deepest thoughts about the good and the bad.
Kudos: 6





	Their Lives In This World

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first fic. I wanted to try writing a character study style piece before I jumped into anything too dialogue or action heavy, just to get my feet on the ground, I suppose. Hopefully you will all enjoy!

Dorothea thought the world was harsh and cruel. Oh, don't get her wrong, not everything about it was bad. There was good food, good entertainment, good company, and some people were admittedly _very_ nice to look at. But those were all superficial, reserved for those that could afford it, either because they were born into luxury or had a talent that others could exploit for their own gain by promising rewards and a new life. Dorothea had both of these at first. An undiscovered talent for singing, and born to the lady-in-waiting of a noble house. She could have had an easy life right from the start. At least, that was until she failed to produce a crest. It was this perceived failure that forced both her and her mother onto the street, causing her mother to die far too young, leaving Dorothea on her own.

Despite this, Dorothea knew that she was one of the lucky ones. An orphan picked back up off the street for her developing talent, before being made up like a doll and put straight into an opera house. Singing and performing for others, rising until she was seen as the star of the show! She knew that she was lucky, because the people that found her had kept their promises. She worked for them, she got the life she had wanted from, no longer living on the streets. But that life came with costs. People had stopped seeing her as a person. She became a statue to be put on display for others, held up for all the world to see. Men and women alike wanted her, but only for acclaim that came with being the partner of the famous songstress, or for her body.

Her body and her talent were the only reasons she was even able to attend the officers academy. She wasn't proud of it, but she had managed to convince the son of a noble to pay for her entrance into the academy, before he cut off ties with her after deciding that he didn't want her anymore. At least he kept paying for her, even though it was probably just to keep her away from him.

And Dorothea was one of the lucky ones! One of those who got off the street and into comfort. She feels sorry for those stuck on the street, those that she can't help. She knows what that life is like. Being all alone, with no help, having to scavenge off the streets just to survive, and washing in fountains just to have some form of sanitation. Dealing with the rodents and birds that roam freely, and trying to keep away from the rampant spread of diseases. Those who were left helpless and forgotten, swept away by everyone, even the people that knew what that life was like.

At Garreg Mach Monastery's famed Officers Academy, her life was different yet again. While she was no longer on the stage, no longer in the spotlight, attention still followed her wherever she went. Going on date after date, men and women both came to her, to get a chance at being with the famed songstress. In that aspect, her life was not much different. But then along came the professor. Someone that had eyes that could look right through her. She didn't like this at first, not at all. In all her interactions with people that wanted to know her image, instead of really knowing her true self, she had subconsciously built up her own walls. Meeting someone that could see past them so easily was scary for her, it felt like an invasion of her privacy. But she slowly came to appreciate it. Even after telling him to stop, she knew he was still looking right through her, although thankfully with much less judgement. It brought her a sense of relief, someone was finally tying to see Dorothea as just herself, even if she wasn't going to let him in easily. She'd been burned like that before.

The monastery wasn't just uphill though. There were so many battles, so many lives she had to take. She was just a student! Why was she having to kill so many people!? If it at least stopped at bandits, she could have accepted it. They were people that pillaged and killed for the fun of it. But killing civilians that were just trying to fight for a cause they thought was right? Why not just send in the knights? But she accepted it. She let her heart grow cold while in combat, the rose losing its petals for a time. Only to weep in solitude for all those lost. So much death, that she was involved in creating. She was just glad that she never came to enjoy it. Dorothea knew it would have been too much for her sometimes fragile heart, to realise that she had enjoyed taking the breath from someone's lungs. No, even in her acceptance that she had to fight, she never got used to the tingle of electricity in her hands and the air before her lighting stole away another person's life, never got used to the smell of burning flesh.

The war changed everything, ripped away her temporary peace that she had grown to love between the fighting and killing. After the battle at the monastery, she stayed off the front lines for multiple years to avoid combat. Instead, she went around the empire, helping the less fortunate. She still had to kill, but while travelling it was only ever out of necessity. She preferred that. Even though she was taking yet another life, at least she could tell herself that it was to protect her own life. So that she could keep doing what she believed in. Helping the innocent, and disadvantaged.

Then the professor returned. Five years with no sign, not even a body to speak of, before they appear out of nowhere. Suddenly showing up at the monastery, with no warning. She was so happy to see them again, even if it meant that she would have to join the front lines. The professor's reappearance invigorated the entire army. They began winning battle after battle, bringing an end to a stalemate that lasted almost half a decade. But with those victories came more killing, along with access to ever more advanced magic. The meteor spell, able to end multiple lives from hundreds of metres away. Sometimes she didn't even see the faces of those she had killed. She hated that. Dorothea preferred to see who she ended up killing, to have the faces burned into her memory, as a reminder of what she had just done. Meteor felt too easy. But it had to be done. If she stopped, then it would be her own life on the line. And she wanted to be present for the battles. Otherwise her friends could die without her there to protect or heal them. That was the only reason she still fought in this war. The fear of losing her dearest friends, allies and companions.

She had long since learnt the spell Agnea's Arrow, able to almost instantly kill a person without sufficient magical protection, leaving nothing but a charred, lifeless body. But she never thought she would have to use it on a former classmate. Someone that she had only known for a year, but had become a regular companion to her, along with her class and some of the other students. But she had to. It was either Dorothea or her former friend, during the final battle of the godsforsaken war. She had to keep on fighting, so that the fighting could stop, and Fódlan could be rebuilt into something greater than it was before. And then the fighting stopped. They had won. It was all over.

During the rebuilding, she finally found someone to settle down with, someone that was willing to indulge her and help her to restore her precious Mittelfrank opera house. Someone to finally settle down and live a peaceful life with in the new Fódlan, that loved Dorothea for herself, not the diva act that she had long since abandoned. The noble-born street orphan had finally found her place in the world, helping young girls and boys alike to grow as whatever they wanted to be within the repaired Enbarr. Devoting her life to ensuring that no-one else needed to be as 'lucky' as she had been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter of my very first fic! If you enjoyed it, please feel free to comment or leave kudos. Any and all constructive criticism is welcomed (because I could probably use the help!). And don't worry, the next chapter probably won't be as cynical as this one. Bye!


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